Youngsville Sugar Cane Farmer Named to USDA Board

Louisiana's sugar industry and particularly our state's sugar cane producers should be excited to know that for the first time in history an actually sugar cane grower will be on the board that oversees sugar and sweetener policy in the nation.

Eddie Jude Lewis III of Youngsville based Eddie Lewis Cane Farms LLC has been appointed to the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for the United States Department of Agriculture. Lewis will serve on one of six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees.

Lewis along with Jack Pettus of the American Sugar Cane League will be leading the charge for cane producers as the USDA makes decisions on policy and trade for various commodities produced and sold for export in the United States.

Lewis and his family can trace their roots in cane farming back several generations.

United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Rober Lighthizer made the announcement earlier this month. Members of the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees provide technical advice and guidance from the perspective of their individual areas of expertise.

In the case of Lewis, being an actual, boots on the ground sugar cane producer, will certainly bring grassroots guidance to that committee and hopefully the nation's Ag policy as well.

Congratulations to Mr. Lewis on his appointment. It's about time the federal government woke up and put someone in a position to tell it like it is from the ground up, literally.